Members of the Warm Springs Tribes made a ceremonial return Saturday morning to Mount Hood, a culturally significant location for the tribes' traditional way of life.

Mount Hood was not part of the land the tribes agreed to settle on after the treaty of 1855.

The return was the idea of Kirk Hanna, owner of Mt. Hood Skibowl. He worked with the tribes' cultural and heritage department to bring it about. (See a video of the event by clicking on this link.)

A building at Skibowl West, immediately south of the main lodges at the ski area, was dedicated as Wiwnu Wash Mt. Hood Tribal Heritage Center.

Skibowl also plans to rename Tom, Dick and Harry Mountain, adjacent to its permit area, as Wiwnu Wash Peak. The name roughly translates to gathering place for a subsistence way of life with the many huckleberry fields in the area. It was not certain whether formal name change would be made through the state board of geographic names.

The beginnings of a permanent exhibit was on introduced in the new tribal heritage center at Skibowl West on Saturday.

About a dozen tribal members began the ceremonial journey from the Warm Springs Reservation on Wednesday. They traveled 35 miles by horseback. Dallas Winishut Jr. said he hadn't ridden for more than 20 years, since he was 15 years old, but wasn't feeling too bad upon arrival, though he did not expect to join the dancing at the afternoon powwow.